Prima Materia
by Luumi
Summary: Truth is clouded. Meaning is lost. What is to be gained from this journey?
1. Prologue

I don't own Avatar. Avatar owns me.

PRIMA MATERIA

Prologue

> > >

Running. Running down the steep hill. His bare feet were stabbed at by rocks and sticks as he dashed by. They were gaining on him. Soon he would be captured and put to death. He needed to get away. He needed to protect the scroll. He needed to tell someone.

He could hear them in the background now. There was no mistaking the thunder of a hundred stampeding komodo rhinos. A branch snagged his shirt, but he didn't even notice it tear. Why wasn't there anyone else around! He needed to tell someone about the scroll. Its contents could determine the outcome of the war.

He tripped.

Soon he was spiraling down the hill. Everything was a blur. He didn't care as he landed on sharp rocks that punctured his skin. His only focus was the scroll he carried.

He landed with a soft thump next to the river. Yes! A river! The Fire Nation's rhinos couldn't swim, and the soldiers couldn't produce flames when wet. He dove for the river, but a flaming arrow pinned his arm to the ground. He howled as more arrows pierced him, warm blood trickling off his skin.

The scroll! It mattered not if he died, but the scroll needed to be protected from the fire lord. With a swift movement, he hurled the scroll across the remaining distance between him and the river with his good arm. It made a gentle splash as it hit the water, and was quickly swept away by the current. The protective case would make sure the scroll would not be destroyed be the rapids.

Soldiers closed in on him, but he sighed of relief for the scroll would not fall into the Fire Nation's hands again. He giggled as flames burst towards him, and broke out in a maniacal laughter as the intense fire licked his flesh. His body was quickly reduced to charcoal, but the hysterical grin was still etched into his face. The fire benders let him burn for a few more minutes, then stabbed at the body's remains breaking it into chunks. They swept the ashes into the river.

He was now no more than a mere memory, but he had done great things. Evil had not won the battle yet. Good still had a chance.

While this was taking place, the scroll was lazily being guided down the river, waiting for someone to pick it up and read its deadly secrets.

> > >

Luumi Comments: Wow, it's not even chapter one and I've already killed off one of my characters. ; He died for a good cause. The plot, actually. I feel like he deserves a name. He was just always 'He' or "Him.' I shall name him…Jeremy! Rest in Peace, Jeremy.


	2. Chapter One

PRIMA MATERIA

Chapter One

I don't own Avatar. Avatar owns me.

Idecided to post Chapter 1 even though it's only been a day. The prologue is just a prologue, so here's the actual beginning.

> > >

"Try to move your arms like the water."

"Like this?"

"Almost. You're being too stiff."

"Haven't you guys practiced enough today?"

"We've been watching you for hours."

"She's right. We should set up camp."

Aang and Katara stopped their water bending. They went over to the supplies heap to help Sokka and Toph set up the tents. Sokka had already made their meal which was nothing more than a few scrawny fish.

"Sokka, none of us have eaten since breakfast and there's only three small fish…" whined Aang.

"I worked hard for these fish! If you want more, catch them yourself!" Sokka complained.

"Great idea Sokka! It'll help Aang with his water bending!" exclaimed Katara.

"I'll help them," said Toph, picking up a sad looking fish. "These don't seem like they would taste very good."

"What do you mean! They look fine to me," said Sokka, annoyed. "Besides," he added. "You can't even see them!"

"I can feel them," called back Toph, who was already at the river with Katara and Aang. Sokka grumbled and munched on his charred fish.

"See Aang? Wait until you see a shadow, then bend the water around it. After that, just lift it out of the water," instructed Katara.

"I see one! I see one!" shouted Aang excitedly. He quickly did what Katara had told him and lifted something out of the water.

"Is that even a fish?" questioned Toph.

"No, it's not. Seriously Aang, what is that?" asked Katara.

"It's a scroll," Sokka stated plainly while walking up behind them.

"Let me see," said Katara. Aang handed it to her, and she opened it. Her eyes quickly glanced over it then handed it to Sokka and Aang. "Is this a prank or something? There are even bloodstains on it."

"What? What does it say?" asked Toph.

"Prima…Materia," read Aang, "It says…Prima Materia…is what makes up the four elements. I guess that means water, earth, fire, and air," he skipped down a bit. "Actually, according to this, Prima Materia is what makes up everything! It would take a while to read the whole scroll out loud, but basically there's a substance called Prima Materia and practically everything in the world is made from it. Pretty much the entire scroll is just going on and on about the four elements and Prima Materia, but at the bottom there's some sort of map. It has the four nations, but there's some weird island with a strange symbol on it, like some sort of star."

Sokka grabbed the scroll from Aang. "Then there's a riddle or something below the map:

'To find the Prima Materia benders

One must look above

But stay below.

The Tanare Cave is your first destination.'"

"What's that supposed to mean? Give me the scroll," demanded Toph. Sokka obeyed. She closed her eyes and moved her hands across the parchment. "This paper was not made in the Earth Nation. There's some sort of blood on it. Probably human. It's not fresh. Someone from the Fire Nation must have seen this because there are areas that are burnt in the shape of fingerprints, as if a fire bender got angry while reading it and almost destroyed it. The outside has an expensive protective case, like someone did all they could to make sure it would stay safe."

"Wow," said Katara, surprised. "You found all that out just by feeling it?"

Toph nodded. "If these Prima Materia benders exist, they could control anything! They'd be great to have on our side during the war!" she exclaimed.

"It's expensive parchment, so it's not a joke. Maybe they actually do exist," observed Katara.

"If there were people that powerful, I think the Avatar would have heard of them," laughed Aang, but he wasn't so sure. The Prima Materia benders seemed stronger than any Avatar.

"Let's just get a good night's rest," yawned Sokka. This scroll has nothing to do with us.

They finished setting up camp and caught more fish. Momo had stolen the rest of Sokka's. After that, Sokka and Katara went to sleep while Toph practiced earth bending with Aang. Soon they were asleep too as the scroll lay there, sad that it had been forgotten.

> > >

The whole idea of Prima Materia is actually real. It has to do with alchemy, and I found it in a FMA profile book. But this paragraph was taken from an actual, real alchemic text. I just changed some of the words to make it simpler…

Fundamental Material:

Alchemists believe that before the world became divided into the all, it was composed of a single substance, the fundamental matter called Prima Materia. The Greek philosopher Aristotle stated that out of this Prima Materia came the four basic elements of fire, air, water, and earth. At the fundamental level, everything in the world is composed of these four elements.

For the story's purposes, I changed a few things to make it more convenient for the plot.


	3. Chapter 2

I do not own Avatar. Avatar owns me.

PRIMA MATERIA

Chapter Two

It was Toph that shook them awake. "Get up! Get up!" she told them in a frantic voice. "Fire Nation! They're coming this way!"

Aang and Katara were quickly awake, but they had to lie to Sokka and tell him that Appa had eaten his boomerang to wake him up.

"What! How could you let Appa do that! How did he even swallow it without slicing his throat open!" he yelled.

"Quiet! Fire Nation Soldiers! We need to go. Now!" whispered Katara. They packed in a hurry and were about to leave when a Fire Nation General came into the clearing.

"The scroll!" he barked. "Where is it? Give it to me!" He sent a stream of fire in their direction, but Appa managed to avoid it. He flew up, and they all fell back as he gained speed. Soon they were above some low clouds so they couldn't be seen anymore.

"What was that all about? In less than 5 minutes I was woken up by your stupid lies then got attacked by a fire bender! What's going on!" demanded Sokka.

"He said something about a scroll. Could it be the one we found?" asked Toph, ignoring Sokka's annoyed rants.

"What if…the Prima Materia benders are real?" suggested Aang. "The Fire Nation might be trying to kill them off, like they did the air benders."

"Or maybe they're trying to recruit them in their army!" said Katara.

"Either way it's bad for us," stated Toph.

"We need to tell someone about this!" Sokka told them.

"The Avatar is supposed to help people, not go to them begging for help," Toph replied.

"The nearest city is too far away anyway. Why can't we just stop them ourselves?" asked Aang.

"We need to decide soon. The Fire Nation probably knows where the scroll says to go," said Katara.

"I say we go," Toph said.

"Me too," agreed Aang.

"I think we should," admitted Katara.

"I disagree. We'd be going up against whole armies of fire benders. It'd be suicide," stated Sokka.

"Then it's settled! We'll go! Now…where are we going again?" questioned Aang.

Katara got the scroll out. "It says Tanare Cave. According to the map at the bottom, it's not that far." She handed the scroll to Aang, who turned Appa around so they were going in the right direction. Sokka sighed and leaned back, trying to get back to sleep. The scroll crinkled with delight as the wind danced on its parchment.

I did it again, didn't I? I gave human capabilities to the scroll. Heh...

I bet you're wondering why this chapter took me so long to post. Well...so am I. I've had it typed for a few months, but just didn't feel like uploading it, so instead I just kept on posting its status on my profile. **The next chapter's status will almost always be on my profile.**

Now, it has come to my attention that this fanfic seems very Mary Sue-ish. And I kind of agree... but in the future chapters, I will be doing all I can to make this exciting! There will be more losses, less gains, deaths, (longer) battles, and other things like that!

Ok, I'm done with my ranting.


End file.
